This T-shirt dress does not require any sewing, I have small kids, really small kids for their ages. I’m small. They are doomed. One of the problems with being unusually petite is when we get a “group shirt” – you know the ones they wear on field trips, or to VBS, or as part of [...]
Activities for 4 Year Olds
October 8, 2011 by 11 Comments
Four year olds love life and enjoy creating, tinkering, and exploring. Here are some of my favorite activities that I have used to help engage and interact with my four year olds. Build your own blocks from a tree. These Tree Blocks are great for re-creating “natural” scenes. If you have pencils (or pens) toilet [...]
Recess Games: DIY Twister with Chalk
October 3, 2011 by
What were your favorite memories of recess? Mine were playing four square and twister. I loved rainy days as that’s when my teacher would pull-out a twister mat and a spinner card and we would see which of us were fast enough to contort ourselves onto the correct colors. Recess was the highlight of my [...]
Activities for 3 Year Old
September 25, 2011 by 18 Comments
Three year olds are curious, active – at least mine seem to have an endless supply of energy. They are beginning to make comparisons and differentiate patterns, colors and love to play pretend. Here are just a few of our favorite three year old activities. These activities were gleaned in part from from our weekly [...]
Tree Blocks: Building with Nature
September 12, 2011 by
A good foundation is important for both buildings and for life. This week’s sponsor, Cerra, is a company with a wide variety of products, ranging from comforting oils, candles, journal aids and more. Their products help remind us to be grounded in who we are and to build with what we have around us. They [...]
Make a Friendship Bracelet Loom
August 23, 2011 by 19 Comments
Am I the only momma with kiddos who love their accessories? The more they have the better! Thankfully, friendship bracelets are so easy to make. Several years ago I discovered these nifty bracelet looms but like all good things, it got stretched out, one of the kids decided to use it as a teething toy [...]
Pillowcase Skirts – a Slumber Party Activity
August 8, 2011 by 21 Comments
We love to wear dresses, the more color they have and the more they “flounce” the better they are. A few weeks ago Elmer’s sponsored a craft camp – my kids had a blast making some giant fabric wall letters, and we had so many leftover supplies we dug the box out again the next [...]
Freezer Banana Pops: Homemade Summer Popsicle
July 25, 2011 by 31 Comments
One of the things that says “summer” more than anything else are popscicles. This is by far my kids favorite way to consume a banana – stuck on a stick, smothered with chocolate, and covered with sprinkles. . Freezer Banana Pops are also a great way to rescue those bananas that are nearing the end [...]
DIY fabric wall letters
July 11, 2011 by 49 Comments
I have been drooling over the anthropologie-style wall letters (like these at Tip Junkie) and Elmers & Xacto gave me the perfect opportunity to make my own set with an Elmer’s Summer Craft Party! They sent me a big box of goodies including foam boards, glue sticks, glue dots, markers and more! They also sent [...]
DIY fabric wall letters… & a Giveaway of Elmers Craft Supplies
July 11, 2011 by 45 Comments
I have been drooling over the anthropologie-style wall letters (like these at Tip Junkie) and Elmers & Xacto gave me the perfect opportunity to make my own set with an Elmer’s Summer Craft Party! They sent me a big box of goodies including foam boards, glue sticks, glue dots, markers and more! They also sent [...]
Cars: a DIY Car Mat & Redbox Sweeps
July 5, 2011 by
Cars, the movie and the toys are beloved friends of my four year old. This summer, Redbox is asking moms, “What’s the best animated movie that both kids and parents can enjoy?” Plus, they are rewarding 2 lucky people with a chance to win $10,000 as part of the Redbox Summer of Fun & Games [...]
Mud-Like Coffee PlayDough
June 28, 2011 by 33 Comments
This post is in honor of International Mud Day… whoever made the last Wednesday of June “mud-day” does not live in Texas. The heat index was 107 yesterday and it’s dry, very dry… while we LOVE mud and LOVE playing outside, this is just not the time of year for outdoor play (well, after 8:30 [...]
Monster Apple Faces
June 20, 2011 by 11 Comments
Have candy? Peanut butter? Some apples? We made monster apple faces with the leftovers from our birthday party this past weekend. During the kids birthday party we had a candy buffet for the kids to decorate their own cupcakes – it was a huge hit! We couldn’t let the leftovers go to waste – time [...]
It’s Playtime: Play with Recycled Items
June 16, 2011 by 3 Comments
Is your recycling bin overflowing? Mine is! Here are four ideas of ways you can turn your trash into treasure – or at least half an hour of play and exploration! . Melissa over at The Chocolate Muffin Tree (one of my favorite blogs!) used the lid of a dish soap bottle, an old CD [...]
DIY Chalk Calendar
June 9, 2011 by
We wanted a place for our family calendar, something durable and big enough for all of our “plans”. Organization is not one of my gifts, I struggle to organize our schedule and our bills! Over our sink we added a chalkboard calendar to help us organize all of our daily events and activities. I [...]
Car Marionette Puppet (a video)
June 1, 2011 by 8 Comments
.The kids and I made our first video (well, that I can remember) using car marionettes. Chevy DFW inspired this post, they dared me to make a video with my kids and cars. My minivan isn’t quite movie worthy, let’s just say its got more than it’s fair share of dings and is it’s typical [...]
Story-Telling Activities to do with your Kids
May 31, 2011 by 15 Comments
Kids have the most vivid imaginations; I just love hearing the stories my preschoolers come up with and the worlds they create in their pretend play! Here are several ideas of ways you can help get the creative juices flowing from the minds of your little tykes:Made by Joel has a great collection of printables [...]
Preschoolers Painting Masterpieces with Painters Tape
May 16, 2011 by 10 Comments
Do you remember our post with painters tape and stripes? We went through a painting kick for several weeks… my hubby had a large strip (about a foot wide and 8 feet long) of painted plywood 1/4th an inch thick. He saw trash, I saw fun! We chopped it into 5 different pieces and the [...]
10 Ways to Make Flowers with Preschoolers
April 25, 2011 by 6 Comments
Flowers, nothing says spring, more than a bunch of flowers! Here are ten different ways you can make flowers with your preschoolers this week – or maybe you can convince Grandma to make them with your kids – as your mother’s day gift! Don’t want to make your own flowers? Check out our sponsor for [...]
Polly Pocket Bracelet
April 3, 2011 by 12 Comments
I have a preschooler who loves her Polly Pocket dolls and accessories and an infant who wants to put the tiny brightly colored bits into her mouth! We tried keeping the tiny shoes, combs and purses contained and tidy – but were not successful. Solution: Make a Polly Pocket Bracelet! This was a perfect early [...]
How to Create Pretend Felt Food
February 15, 2011 by 12 Comments
My youngest preschooler loves pretend food and is obsessed with “cooking” right now. Thanks to some homemade felt from my sister-in-law, we have all the supplies we need to make a whole assortment of pretend felt food. We have all the fun with none of the sugar-rush. Thanks Jeanette! . How to make your own [...]
Twizzler Candy Bracelet
January 14, 2011 by 16 Comments
It’s cold, rainy lazy day and this edible bracelet activity is great to keep the kids engaged and entertained indoors. Don’t have any twizzlers? You can make bracelets with fruit loops. We’ve even made bracelets out of jelly beans – if it’s edible and sweet it will keep the kiddos engaged. . All you need [...]
Paper Plates: Ideas to play and learn with plates!
November 17, 2010 by 8 Comments
The combination of packing to move (we move into our new home in 2 weeks!!!) and preparation for a busy holiday season means that we have moved to being a disposable, paper plate loving family. Dishwashing with our preschoolers is not as feasible as it has been in the past. Hefty must have known the [...]
Rainbow Cookies – Fun Painting our Food
October 19, 2010 by 16 Comments
Eating cookies is yummy and painting is fun – last week we combined two of our favorite things with two of our favorite people! I like simple easy recipes! We adapted this recipe from the back of a Duncan Hines Cake box (one we found when making our rainbow cupcakes a few weeks ago). These [...]
Fantastic Finds: All things “B”
September 20, 2010 by 3 Comments
Have you noticed a theme this past week? We have been learning about things that begin with the letter B in this months Activity-a-Day Calendar. These are just a few of the “B” things I’ve come across this past week: . If it weren’t for the fact that my youngest preschooler has recently decided bath [...]
DIY Clipping Toy: Road Trip Sanity with a Toddler
June 1, 2010 by 72 Comments
This buckle, clipping toy kept my toddler (17m) entertained for hours! I was inspired to make this one morning at the park, when all the other kids were playing with the slides and the swings and the two toddlers at the park were hunched in deep concentration over a stroller, buckling and unbuckling the straps. [...]
Creating a Scrapbook with Your Kids
May 26, 2010 by 6 Comments
Liz from A Belle, a Bean and a Chicago Dog, reminded me about the joys of letting our kids explore. We have a camera for the kids to use, one of our old ones, but it has been up on a high shelf for quite sometime. Kids love documenting events with photos and I love [...]
Make Your Own Building Block Town
May 24, 2010 by 16 Comments
I loved discovering these homemade wooden houses and building blocks! They are so colorful and inspirational! My hubby is going to have to replace a portion of our fence soon and I am already daydreaming about the scraps we’ll have and the fun blocks we’ll get to make! This is even more fun as this [...]
DIY Shaking Bottle: Great Toddler Entertainment
May 4, 2010 by 21 Comments
I first found out about Shakey Bottles from a stay-at-home Dad/friend, he made them for his son to enjoy and also gave them out as gifts. I loved the concept and have had my eyes peeled for a number of weeks, looking for the perfect bottles! I finally found some at during a trip to [...]
Make your Own Spa Mask
April 20, 2010 by 5 Comments
This past weekend I was blest to be the recipient of a spa treatment care of Scrubbing Bubbles. Holly, blogger of June Cleaver Nirvana, invited me to join them at the Four Seasons! Boy, was I spoiled! I had never had a facial before. I loved having no kids for three hours part, lots of [...]
